European and US forces unleashed warplanes and cruise missiles against former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces, March 2011. Pic credit: Reuters

It is generally agreed that wars and conflicts are major causes of poverty across the world.

Civil wars in the Middle East, international terrorism, cyber attacks, and increasing tensions between global powers, have become issues of concern for citizens and world leaders, according to 24/7 Wall St.

In the event of these disturbances, civilians and local people suffer, however, big businesses make profits. By supplying military hardware and weapons to parties of war, the business of war remains a good one for these companies.

In the U.S., which has been at war for most of its history, arms expenditures rose by $9.6 billion, making it the world’s largest defense spender by a wide margin. According to SIPRI data, total arms sales among the world’s 100 largest defense contractors topped $398 billion in 2017.

Defense contractors are basically business organizations or individuals that provide products or services to a military or intelligence department of a government.

Russia is the second largest arms-producing country, while the U.S. maintains its position as the top arms-producing nation in the world.

The data provided by SIPRI was reviewed by 24/7 Wall St. to identify the companies profiting most from war. Companies were ranked based on arms sale.